Suquamish, first diesel-powered passenger ship built in the United States, is launched on April 23, 1914.

On April 23, 1914, the Suquamish is launched in Seattle. Built for the Kitsap County Transportation Company for service on Puget Sound, the Suquamish is the first diesel-powered passenger vessel built in the United States, and the second diesel-powered ship of any kind built on the Pacific Coast, following the launch of the cannery tender Warrior in Seattle two months earlier.

The Vessel, the Town,
and the Tribe

The Suquamish was designed by naval architects Lee &
Brinton, and was built to carry 180 passengers. Constructed of wood, the vessel
was 92 feet long, with a 16-foot beam and a five-foot draft. The vessel was
powered by a six-cylinder, 180-horsepower diesel engine built by the New London Ship & Engine Building
Company of Groton, Connecticut.

The vessel was built for the Kitsap County Transportation Company at a cost of
$26,858.06, for service between Seattle and the town of Suquamish, located on
the Port Madison Indian Reservation in Kitsap County. The reservation was
established in 1855 on land that had been the Suquamish Tribe's home for
centuries.

Chief
Seattle's grave was in Suquamish, and Blanche Thompson, his
great-great-granddaughter, was chosen to christen the motor vessel Suquamish. The Kitsap County
Transportation Company provided free transportation to the launch for more than
100 tribal members living in Suquamish.

A New Era

On April 23, 1914, some 600 people from around Puget
Sound came to Seattle to witness the launch at the John Wilson shipyard,
located on the East Waterway. At around 3:00 p.m., Warren L. Gazzam (1863-1961),
president of the Kitsap
County Transportation Company, welcomed them all and introduced the speakers.

Dr.
Charles M. Buchanan, superintendent of the Tulalip Indian Agency spoke first, and
addressed the crowd in Chinook Jargon, a trade language used between Natives and non-Natives throughout the Pacific Northwest. Buchanan, who later translated his
remarks, provided a brief history of Chief Seattle (178?-1866), noting that the tribal
leader was born shortly after the Revolutionary War and died a year after the
Civil War.

Buchanan
told how Chief Seattle saw the arrival of Vancouver's sailing ships when he was
just a boy, and lived long enough to see the dawn of the steamship era.
Buchanan then celebrated the launch of the diesel-powered Suquamish by shouting out "Chee laly!" -- Chinook for
"a new era."

Some History

Noted newspaperman and historian Thomas Prosch (1850-1915) spoke
next and read a letter from Seattle pioneer and fellow journalist Samuel L.
Crawford (1855-1916), who was unable to attend due to illness. In the letter,
Crawford congratulated the Suquamish Tribe for having this historic vessel
named for them, and thanked them for being model citizens and good neighbors.
Crawford was especially proud that the tribe had erected a flagpole next to
Chief Seattle's grave, and flew the American flag atop it.

Prosch also spoke well of the tribe, and praised the Kitsap County
Transportation Company for choosing Indian names for their vessels. "We
owe much to these Indians, and not the least of that debt is the name of our
city," Prosch said, referring to Seattle. "What a blessing it is we
has the name Seattle to confer on our great port, instead of having to call it
New Liverpool, New Glasgow, New Boston, or New Albany" (The Seattle Times, April 24, 1914).

Next
up was real-estate developer Ole Hanson (1874-1940), who had founded the town of
Suquamish, and who would later become mayor of Seattle. In his speech, Hanson
mentioned that when he first told Warren Gazzam six years earlier that he would
be developing a town on tribal land, Gazzam didn't think he could do it,
but promised to name a boat after it if he did.

Hanson
then praised the recent breaking of "red tape" that allowed
"incompetent Indians" to sell off their allotment lands. Hanson said,
"They should be allowed to sell their lands, the government to retain the
money in trust and pay them the interest. The interest would support them
handsomely" (The Seattle Times,
April 24, 1914).

Setting Sail

Warren
Gazzam thanked all of the speakers, and it was time to launch the vessel.
Blanche Thompson broke a champagne bottle against its bow, and the Suquamish
slid effortlessly down the ways into the waters of Puget Sound. The
Transportation Company filmed the launch, as well the leading
participants in the ceremony.

The next few months were spent finishing up work on the
vessel. Some of the furnishings -- such as the seats -- were temporary, due to
delays at the factories chosen to manufacture them. In June, the diesel
engine was installed. The Suquamish
began service in July.

The Suquamish
operated on Puget Sound until the 1930s, when the Kitsap County Transportation
Company was acquired by the Puget Sound Navigation Company. The boat was then sold to the Lake Washington
Shipyard, which in turn sold it to Russ Gibson (1899-1979), a yacht broker from
Seattle, for conversion into a pleasure craft.

Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that
encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both
HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any
reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this
Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For
more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact
the source noted in the image credit.

Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided
By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins
| Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry
| 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle
| City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach
Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private
Sponsors and Visitors Like You

HistoryLink.org is the first online encyclopedia
of local and state history created expressly for the Internet.
(SM)
HistoryLink.org is a free public and educational resource produced
by History Ink, a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt corporation.
Contact us by phone at 206.447.8140, by mail at Historylink, 1411 4th Ave. Suite 803, Seattle WA 98101 or email admin@historylink.org